BOND girls are forever

Original Bond girl Ursula Andress has turned 90. MARION MCMULLEN looks at the women who left 007 shaken and stirred

- MARION MCMULLEN

URSULA Andress made her entrance in the first James Bond film Dr No emerging from the ocean in a striking white bikini.

She said: “All I did was wear this bikini in Dr No - not even a small one - and whoosh! Overnight, I made it.”

The original novel by Ian Fleming saw the character emerge from the water holding some shells and completely naked except for a knife belt, but movie censorship laws meant Ursula had to wear a bikini for the role of Honey Ryder in the 1962 film.

Sir Sean Connery’s James Bond tells Honey: “I promise you, I won't steal your shells,” when he surprises her on the beach.

The iconic white bikini later fetched £35,000 at Christie’s Auctions in London on Valentine's Day, 2001, and was bought by Robert Earl of Planet Hollywood.

An underwired bra was the starting point for the design of the bikini and the belt was made from a white webbing army belt.

Ursula was born on March 19, 1936, Bern in Switzerland and was one of six children. Interpol were brought in to track her down when she ran away from boarding school when she was just 17. She worked as an art model in Rome and did a little filming before heading to Hollywood in 1955.